I wanted to write something about two albums that, if listened to consecutively, would make for an enjoyable comparison and hopefully feel greater than the sum of their individual parts (hence imagined double LP). The first idea came, perhaps too easily, to talk about both Life Without Building’s Any Other City and Dry Cleaning’s New Long Leg. The similarities are very immediate: both bands are indebted to the post punk genre and have a front woman who uses primarily a spoken word vocal style. That alone generates a strong comparison, however sonically the individual records take this concept in very different directions.
Any Other City uses spare instrumentation and a guitar that serves almost exclusively a rhythmic function. On the other hand, New Long Leg’s guitar cuts through the mix like a razor blade with its unique tone and searing riffs. Life Without Building’s style feels improvisatory by comparison, the vocals almost acting like a lead guitar in a jam band– bobbing and swaying through the tracks at breakneck speed as the other musicians lift the vocals up more than anything else. In Any Other City the stream of consciousness lyrics, unique vocal delivery and sharp melodies propel the tracks forward. In New Long Leg the focus is more balanced, the unique vocal style is still immediately striking, however the entire band is given sonic room on the record, allowing space for the virtuoso guitar riffs that the band is equally known for, as well as superb bass lines and drumming.
The lyrics share much more common ground than the instrumentation. Both are hyper-impressionistic, constantly flowing like an unhinged faucet of bad memories and overheard sound bites. Listening to the lyrics can feel like something in between a satirical fever dream and an ADHD bus ride to a mundane hell. Memorable lines from Any Other City include: “Your phone calls, don't think they're wearing me out, they're not” and “Break my mind, break my mind In the time it takes to slide it back/ Raining in my room, sweet and sleepy”. Dry Cleaning tends to be more dryly humorous and observational: “Don’t cry just drive”, “If you like a girl, be nice/It’s not rocket science” and “I'd like to run away with you on a plane/But, don't bring those loafers”. The introspection of Life Without Buildings can feel poignant by comparison as if peaking into the mind of someone frantically sorting out a lost relationship.
I haven’t read that Dry Cleaning has specifically stated Life Without Buildings as an influence, but I don't think it would surprise anyone if they did. Life Without Buildings musical career was cut short as they only released one album more than 20 years ago with no sign of a reunion for the band. Dry Cleaning seems poised for a longer career with a savvy label, 4AD, and new singles already released after New Long Leg. With any luck we will see how far Dry Cleaning can take their combination of witty spoken word vocals and brash post punk instrumentation.
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